Priebus fights back on women memo

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Thursday pushed back against an internal memo detailing GOP problems with women, suggesting both parties are struggling with female voters.

“I don’t think either party can do a victory lap here,” he said on MSNBC, citing the report’s findings that 39 percent of women view Democrats unfavorably in addition to the 49 percent of women who view Republicans unfavorably.

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The internal report from major Republican groups Crossroads GPS and American Action Network was first obtained by POLITICO and detailed the challenges facing the Republican Party with female voters. The memo said that women view the GOP as “stuck in the past” and “intolerant,” and the report said that female voters are “barely receptive” to Republican policies.

On Thursday, Priebus acknowledged the party’s problems connecting to female voters. But the chairman suggested these voting groups remain open to GOP policies and principles, and that the party largely needs to do a better job reaching these constituencies.

He cited the report’s findings that female voters care primarily about the economy, jobs, health care and education as evidence that the Republican Party could still win over female voters. “[I]f you push back on what the Democrats are selling out there in the field, you can actually win women over,” he said.

The memo found that Democrats have a major advantage with female voters who care about those four major issues.

Priebus also took some jabs at POLITICO for suggesting that report’s takeaway was that Republicans alone are out of step with female voters. “The poll’s gist wasn’t, ‘Oh, the Republicans are stuck in the past,’” he said. “The gist of the poll was, 50 percent of women are saying they have a negative view of the Republican Party and 40 percent of the women are saying they have a negative view of the Democratic Party.”

The chairman also said Republicans can make inroads in with Hispanic voters, a group that came out strongly in favor of President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election. While a sizable number of Hispanics self-identify as conservative, he said, “you don’t have Republicans in Hispanic communities making the case to Hispanic voters,” adding that Republicans need a better “conduit” in those communities.